Texas woman with COVID battled for her life for 5 weeks. Soon after, she had a baby.
Two months after a harrowing, five-week battle with the coronavirus, Pooja Charaniya gave birth to a baby boy at Texas Health Harris Methodist Hospital in Fort Worth.
Charaniya was 23 weeks pregnant with her first child when she tested positive for COVID-19. Her husband rushed her to the hospital on April 11 after she developed a fever and was short of breath.
“I couldn’t believe it because I thought I had been so cautious,” she said. “I wore my mask every day no matter what, and I had barely even left the house since March.”
Four days later she took a turn for the worse and was transferred to the ICU at Texas Health Fort Worth. Two days after that she had to be intubated.
“COVID-19 does not generally impose a direct threat to the fetus,” Dr. Bannie Tabor said in a release. “But at only 23 weeks into the pregnancy the baby’s survival would have been touch-and-go.”
Cases of pregnant women with the coronavirus who had to be hospitalized have been very rare, according to the Centers for Disease Control.
Charaniya was treated with Remdesivir as part of a clinical trial and received two plasma infusions during the 13 days she was on a ventilator and in an induced coma, according to doctors.
She finally recovered after five weeks and was released after testing negative on May 7. She returned on July 22 to give birth to Zayd Jainul Charaniya, who was a healthy 5 pounds, 1 ounce.
“It’s a blessing that we both recovered, but the journey was so hard,” Charaniya said. “The nurses and doctors at Texas Health Fort Worth were like angels to me during that time. They gave me and my baby a second chance at life, and there are no celebrations, baby showers or gifts that can replace that.”
